Can medication ease the pain of a frozen shoulder?
Does medication work well in frozen shoulder cases?
What can medication achieve?
Medication is intended to relieve the pain
of frozen shoulder. It will make no impact on the stiffness and will
not alter the timescale until recovery. It is simply intended to make
you feel better and more functional while nature works away inside to
resolve the underlying problem.
What's available?
The possible range of options when it comes to frozen shoulder
medication treatment is very large. Some people simply purchase simple
painkiller drugs over the pharmacy counter. Others obtain medication on
prescription from their doctor. As a general rule you should aim for the
level of painkiller that gives you comfort and decent function without
causing intolerable side effects.
In my experience, it's always a
tradeoff; a compromise between the level of pain relief obtained and the
severity of the drug side effects.
Does frozen shoulder medication work?
Yes, but only up to a point. If you have a frozen shoulder in
the freezing or thawing stage then you might well be able to find a
decent level of pain relief and function from relatively mild analgesia.
If you are in the frozen stage then unfortunately the level of
painkiller required is likely to sedate or constipate you (to mention
only two of a whole range of other problematic side effects!)
Which frozen shoulder medications are best?
There is no hard and fast rule about this - it's pretty much
"horses for courses" depending on what works with you. Personally I tend
to avoid giving my frozen shoulder patients anti-inflammatory drugs
because I don't think they are any more effective than simple
painkillers and they have the potential to cause much more serious side
effects. Your own doctor might have a different view - discuss it with
him or her.